Hiked the 9-ish miles in to Rainbow Point and spent two nights there. The trail is all clear for the first 4 miles, scattered trees down thereafter. Trail crews rock my world! Some acrobatics required to get over/under/around the remaining trees, but it looks like hikers have been breaking off branches and clearing some space as they go. A couple of stream crossings are maybe a touch too high for littler kids still, but I managed to keep my feet dry. The wind at camp each night was intense right around sunset! But the mountain views are spectacular, and the water is so low right now that you can walk a ways out onto temporary rock beaches for even more dazzling views. Berry bushes are blooming, and I think I saw a patch or two of orchids??

The second day, I hiked from Rainbow up to the junction with Desolation Trail (another 9 miles or so) and back. There were a lot more trees down past Lightning Creek. I saw bear scat at regular intervals between Lodgepole and Cat Island. Also got bit by a couple of ticks along that stretch of trail, so watch out!

FYI that the pin for the trailhead in the map above is off by a few miles. Google Maps has the trailhead labeled at the right spot, though: East Bank Trailhead

From what I've read, this trail is on the traditional lands of the Syilx People of the Okanagan Nation, specifically the Lower Similkameen Indian Bands, and the saʔqʷəbixʷ-suyaƛ̓̀̀ʔbixʷ (Sauk-Suiattle).

I was hoping to do the Big Beaver trail but missed the trailhead because it's not marked, so did this one instead. It's a nice stroll through the woods. I just did a 6m out and back.

*Tons* of blowdown blocking the trail in various spots. I managed to get past them all but it was one blowdown after another, with lots of debris too. WTA was working on the beginning part of the trail.... got a LOT of work to do!

Streams are very full - I was glad to have hiking poles with me to balance on some rocks as I crossed. If you don't mind getting wet feet, they are no problem but I wanted to avoid that.

Matt and Gia drove out and met me in Marblemount, we proceeded 32 miles to winter closure of Highway 20 at Ross Dam Trail.

Our destination was East Bank Trail 5 miles up the road, we brought our bikes and made quick work of the up and down ride.  We had hoped to ride some of the trail since no one else was there but it was littered with debris from the long winter.  Ended up stashing our bikes about half a mile in.

At the junction with Little Jack Trail we headed toward Hidden Hand Pass, nice climb through forest.  Snow got about a foot deep right at the top, 2500' or so, disappeared as we dropped toward Roland Point, lots of trees down in this stretch.

We decided to turn around, and back at the junction we took a right for Hidden Hand Camp, just .5 mile, mostly flat.  Nice sunny rocks to warm up our wet feet, great views across Ross Lake.  

Took a long break and headed back to our bikes, fun to ride the short bit of trail we had mostly pushed them up on the way in.  Then the 5 mile ride back up the Highway to the car, stopping at the overlooks this time.

Total trip about 20 miles, half on foot, 8 hours.  We passed 2 people walking on the road with their dogs, otherwise had the whole place to ourselves.  I feel like the WTA should have "rode your bike" as one of the travel options, and "crowds" as one of the things to "beware of". 

The Highway past the gate is closed to walkers/bikers Monday - Thursday from 5AM to 6PM while crews clear the passes further up.  There will be considerably less snow next weekend when this is open to travel again with the ever increasing high temperatures we are expecting.

Still time to book a cabin for this rare spring heatwave at Glacier Peak Resort in Marblemount, so close to everything North Cascades.  With the good wifi the boss doesn't even need to know you left home.  I'll see you here tomorrow!

Spent the beautiful first day of November hiking along the East Bank of Ross Lake to Rainbow Point Campground, 18 miles round trip. This is the first time we've done this hike and it was beautiful, it was just myself and a friend and we had the trail to ourselves, we only saw 3 other twosomes all day. There are a few areas with downed trees over the trail but we were able to climb over/under those without difficulty. The streams were all passable but required some rock hopping and almost wet feet. We did encounter 1 sleepy looking bear, he looked on the younger side and sat not far off the trail just watching us go by, we made ourselves big and had the bear spray ready but he did not look interested in getting out of his comfy spot in the woods. All in all it was the perfect day to hike along the lake, Rainbow Point is a beautiful campground (hope to go back in the summer), the lake was very low so it was fun to see all the stumps and areas that are usually under water. 

While everyone was zooming up Hwy 20 to see the larch trees, I was taking it easy during a break from the rain, hiking a quiet forest trail. The East Bank trail is very mellow, with little elevation gain, but beautiful, regardless. I hiked about 3.3 miles to Hidden Hand Camp which is a horse camp on Ross Lake. No one was on the trail or at the camp. There were a few water crossings to get there and I slipped on a rock but recovered. I often find I feel overly confident at the end of the summer hiking season and can easily hurt myself doing something that I don't feel merits much attention. But it's always a good idea to pay attention and be aware.

There was a nice view from the camp where I hung out for a while, then headed back and got home before another deluge began.